A Wise Use of Our Resources:

Global Warming

by Morgan Tong

What is Global Warming?

Global warming is Earth’s climate changing - more specifically, the increase in the average temperature of Earth caused by human pollution. This has many negative effects on the planet itself.

Greenhouse Gases

There are several said causes of global warming, but the primary cause is the high, growing concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere that cause the ozone layer to thin. The amount of carbon dioxide, methane, and other greenhouse gases crowding the atmosphere have been mostly been contributed by human activities.

Human Activities

Human activities have damaging effects on the Earth, influencing and promoting global warming. Certain activities, like pollution, especially in the air, deforestation, and the burning of fossil fuels all contribute to the climate disruption of Earth.

Deforestation

Deforestation destroys habitats and important pieces of the environment that help to absorb pollutants in the air.

Pollution

Pollution has extreme effects on the ozone layer and global warming. It also destroys land and freshwater.

Consequences

There are many harsh and severe consequences around the world that occur due to global warming. Drastic weather changes and natural disasters become more frequent, and the melting of the polar ice caps is severely sped up. Droughts, hurricanes, floods, and major storms are examples of this.

Hazardous Climate Effects

2011 tsunami in Japan

drought in the Amazon

Icebergs Melting in the Poles

Possible Solutions

Many possible solutions have been suggested to help prevent more global warming, or to help fight against it. One major one is to eliminate use of fossil fuels and burning of coal, oil, and gases. Instead of using the aforementioned to create energy, production of electricity could be fueled by wind and/or solar power or biofuels.

Possible Solutions (cont.)

In addition, helping to preserve and restore forests and tropical wetlands could help to absorb excess carbon dioxide out of the air. Other simple suggestions include personal methods that apply to individuals and their families. These include using energy-saving lights, recycling and reusing, and washing in cooler water.

Sources

http://www.ecologic.org/actions-issues/challenges/climate-change/?gclid=CMH-j4WQ8LoCFec9Qgod610Amw

http://blog.inthewildtesting.com/please-test-before-trying-to-reverse-climate-change/2012/10/global-warming/

http://www.zmescience.com/ecology/pollution-ecology/greenhouse-gases-reached-record-levels-in-2011/

http://blogs.uww.edu/introtolatinamerica/2011/10/03/deforestation-in-latin-america-3/

http://nimbuseco.com/2013/01/deforestation-and-pollution-facts/

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/environment/climatechange/8175045/Amazon-deforestation-at-record-low-level.html

http://www.thewaterq.com/wnews1/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=341:statutory-law-of-water-pollution&catid=89:usa-water&Itemid=463

http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/health/medicine-and-research/air-pollution-ups-diabetes-hypertension-risk-in-africanamerican-women/article2782321.ece

http://www.sustainablebabysteps.com/kinds-of-environmental-pollution.html

http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/pollution-overview/

http://www.ucsusa.org/global_warming/what_you_can_do/ten-personal-solutions-to.html

Sources (cont.)

http://blogs.e-rockford.com/applesauce/2013/03/29/paradoxically-you-can-blame-global-warming-for-the-lingering-winter-weather/#axzz2l4g4t913

http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/gw-solutions/

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=10-solutions-for-climate-change

http://reneweconomy.com.au/2012/barnard-19963/wind-turbines17

http://www.examiner.com/article/mit-researchers-eye-solar-power-storage

http://breathingspaces.net/2011/01/30/trees-are-the-lungs-of-the-earth/

http://naturecritical.wordpress.com/2013/03/14/the-missing-rs-the-ideology-of-recycling-by-taryn-bernard/

http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/sciencetech/5-deadliest-effects-of-global-warming/276

http://climate-connections.org/2011/03/11/today%E2%80%99s-tsunami-this-is-what-climate-change-looks-like/

http://www.all-creatures.org/hope/gw/02_Amazon_drought.htm

http://www.scientificcomputing.com/news/2012/04/carbon-dioxide-caused-global-warming-ice-ages-end-pioneering-simulation-shows#.UosT3irTmM9

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• Biodiversity is valuable to humans because it allows a gigantic variety of organisms on Earth to exist. The many different species provide us humans with foods, industrial products, and medicines.
• As one of Earth’s greatest natural resources, biodiversity is extremely valuable to all of its inhabitants. The biodiversity of Earth have led to great advancements in human society, like industrial products and medicines.
• Altering habitats, hunting down certain species to near extinction, introducing toxic compounds, and bringing foreign species to new environments are several ways that humans are decreasing the biodiversity of Earth.
• A natural resource is any part of the natural environment that is used for human benefit. A few examples of natural resources are trees, crops, and minerals.
• A renewable resource is a resource that can be regenerated or recycled through natural processes in the natural environment, while a nonrenewable resource is only available in certain amounts and is unable to be replaced through nature. Renewable resources include water, crops, and wildlife, while nonrenewable resources include metals and fossil fuels.

Check for Understanding and Transitions

• Pollution is excess waste in nature. Air pollution’s greatest contributor is burning fossil fuels, which is done to heat homes, run transportation, and to produce electricity. Land pollution is mostly human waste and garbage, which is typically burned of buried in landfills. Water pollution is caused by pollutants in water that disturb the natural environment.
• The ozone layer absorbs harmful radiation from the sun, deflects some sunlight, and keeps the earth warm. However, due to air pollutants like CFC (used in the production of styrofoam and coolant in air conditioners), the ozone layer is growing thinner and thinner. This results in what humans call global warming.
• Too much nitrogen can be bad for the environment because it can cause major pollution in both air and water.
• The Greenhouse Effect is when the ozone layer keeps some energy and heat inside the earth’s atmosphere, but lets enough out to keep the planet’s temperatures within a relatively small range. However increasing amounts of greenhouse gases, like carbon dioxide and methane, are contributing to global warming.

Transition Questions (cont.)

“Back Track” Activity

For this activity, my partner and I chose to examine a mechanical pencil.

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Here are all the resources we could think that went into making it: